


The Morning After

by bromfieldhall



Category: Ugly Betty
Genre: Angst, F/M, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-09-02
Updated: 2009-09-02
Packaged: 2018-02-16 03:24:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2254020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bromfieldhall/pseuds/bromfieldhall
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Gio chuckled and the sound washed over her like a gentle wave, bringing her body to abrupt, unwelcome awareness. When had his laugh stopped grating on her nerves?" </p><p>AU. GIO/BETTY. </p><p>Answer to Alphabet Challenge - A is for Alcohol. </p><p>Set the morning after S2 episode, Bananas For Betty.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Consequence of Drinking

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: "Ugly Betty" is copyrighted to ABC Studios. I retain rights to the plot, but not the characters. This story is meant for enjoyment purposes only. No infringement is intended.

"Man, I'm never drinking again," groaned Gio as he groggily sat up in bed. Hand to head, he waited a few moments until the room stopped spinning then tried to recall what had happened the night before.

He could remember going dancing with Hilda when Betty and her boyfriend had turned up at the club unexpectedly. There had been some kind of argument between them and then Egg Salad had left in a huff. He could also recollect that Betty had been upset and so he'd ordered some more cocktails for them all, but from then on it all got a little hazy.

Turning his head, he noticed that the drawer of his bedside cabinet was open. Inside, his new pack of condoms was open with a couple of sealed foil packs sat on top of the box ready for use; but he hadn't been with a woman in ages…

A soft moan suddenly came from beside him and he froze momentarily before slowly turning his head towards the sound. His eyes widened and his heart started to thud heavily as he saw a woman lying on her side in bed next to him. A familiar mass of long, unruly black hair covered her face, shielding her identity. A cold dread flooded through his system causing him to suddenly sober up within seconds.

It couldn't be…could it?

Swallowing hard, his gaze travelled along the length of his companion's shapely body. Looking at the low slung sheet, that revealed far more flesh than it actually covered, he could tell that she was every as bit naked as he was, which wasn't really a good thing considering her relationship status.

She moaned softly again then rolled over onto her back with a sigh. Her hair fell back to reveal her face and Gio felt his stomach drop as his suspicions were confirmed.

Betty Suarez.

She moved again, this time raising her arms above her head and stretching out her body with a long groan as she roused from her sleep. The action bowed her back causing her bare chest to be thrust out, drawing Gio's avid gaze.

"Hi Gio," she murmured with a smile as she sleepily opened her eyes before shutting them again.

There was a moment's pause then her eyes flew open once more. "Gio?!" she exclaimed in shock as she sat bolt upright. Looking around the room, her fuzzy brain started to register where she was and, more importantly, what she'd obviously done, not to mention who with…

"Wha'? How? Oh my God!"

Suddenly realising her nakedness, she let out a little scream of panic and grabbed the sheet. With a swift tug, she pulled the cover up to her neck, blocking his view of her body. Unfortunately for her, she'd taken so much of the sheet that she'd pulled it off Gio, who now sat next to her completely uncovered. With a small yelp of embarrassment, she closed her eyes tightly and turned her head away.

"Cover yourself up," she ordered, mortified.

"With what?" Gio replied dryly. "You've got all of the sheet."

"Then get your clothes on and leave," she retorted, still not looking.

Gio chuckled and the sound washed over her like a gentle wave, bringing her body to abrupt, unwelcome awareness. When had his laugh stopped grating on her nerves?

"Uh, this is my place, Suarez, so I'm not going anywhere," he informed her with a smile. "But I will put some pants on…if you really want me to?"

"Yes, I do!" she replied quickly.

She felt the bed move as he laughed again and Betty couldn't resist opening her eyes to have a sneaky look at him. He'd just stood up and she got a good view of his taut derriere and muscular back before she quickly shut her eyes again.

Gio looked down at the floor for his pants but couldn't see them. In fact, he couldn't see any of their clothes in the vicinity of the bed. With a slight frown, he headed out of the bedroom into the lounge where he saw items of clothing strewn everywhere and Betty's glasses laying on the couch. Obviously, this was where everything had started. If only he could remember.

He picked up his creased pants and slipped them on then grabbed her glasses and went around the room gathering up the rest of their clothes. Apparently, they'd had quite a wild time, judging by the state of some of them. His shirt had virtually no buttons left on it at all; he must have been in a real hurry to get it off.

With a sigh, he carried the clothes and glasses back to the bedroom then steeled himself to face the woman within. He wasn't even sure how they'd come to be in this situation. He thought Betty hated him and although he acted like he wasn't that enamoured of her either, deep down, he'd already tacitly acknowledged that he could fall head over heels if he actually let himself.

There was just the little problem of the fact that she had a boyfriend. As a rule, he didn't mess with another man's woman. Ever. It was wrong…and yet, one drink too many and apparently he had…three times if the discarded condoms on the floor by the bed were any indication.

Despite the situation, he couldn't help but mentally preen himself that he'd been able to perform so well while being so drunk. He just had to make sure Betty didn't find out. He had no doubt that she'd begin her guilt trip soon enough and that he would be solely to blame. At least if she thought they'd only made love once, she would probably write it off to an excess of alcohol. Three times…well, three times meant she must have liked it…and that was a little harder to justify. He sure as hell knew that he wasn't going to be able to do it. He just had to face the fact that he was already in far deeper than he really wanted to be.

Taking a deep breath, he entered the bedroom and found Betty still sitting up in bed, clutching at the sheet as if her very life depended on it.

"I found your clothes and glasses," he said, walking over and putting them down on the bed. "Do you want some coffee or anything? I could put it on while you get dressed."

"No thank you," she replied primly as she reached for her spectacles and put them on. "I just want to get my clothes on and leave as soon as possible."

"Don't you want to talk about what happened?" Gio queried incredulously.

"No!" she answered sharply. "I don't remember anything and I want to leave it that way, OK?"

She waved a hand at him to leave but Gio merely turned his back to her and held his ground. She rolled her eyes and hurriedly began to get dressed. She just needed to get away from the whole awful mess.

"You can't just ignore what we did, Betty," he pointed out reasonably.

"Oh yes I can," she retorted quickly as she stood and pulled on her dress. "For all we know, nothing actually happened. I mean, we were both so drunk we probably just went to sleep…"

"Naked together," he interrupted with a husky chuckle. "Yeah, you tell yourself that if it makes you feel better, Suarez."

"Shut up, Gio!" she ordered in an annoyed tone.

He laughed once more and, as before, instead of being annoying, it seemed to draw her to him. Like she wanted to do anything to hear that sound again. Shaking her head to dispel the feeling, she slipped her shoes on then grabbed her jumper and brushed passed him as she hurriedly headed out of the bedroom towards the door of the apartment.

As much as she hated to admit it, even to herself, she knew what he'd said was true. She was only trying to make herself feel better. There could no doubt that they'd spent the night together, the pleasurable ache in her body told her they had. She'd never done anything so rash in her life before and it frightened her that she seemed perfectly happy to do it with Gio of all people. He was such a lothario and she'd ended up as yet another notch on his very large bedpost. What did that say about her?

The certain set of morals she lived by had all flown out of the window the minute she'd had too much alcohol and an experienced womaniser had made a move. She couldn't believe she'd been so weak.

Spying her purse and coat on the floor by the couch, she went over and bent to retrieve them. As she stood up, she found that Gio was standing right beside her with a sober expression on his face.

"I don't think you should leave until we talk this out, Betty," he tried again.

She shook her head and quickly walked around him. "There's nothing to say, Gio," she denied as she reached the door and looked back at him. "Whatever happened last night was a mistake. A horrible mistake that I don't ever want to repeat and it's all your fault!"

She grabbed the door handle and gave it a tug but her big exit was denied her when she realised it was locked.

Even though he'd been waiting for her to heap the blame on him, he hadn't been prepared for how much her words actually hurt him. "Just how is this all my fault?" he snapped, irately.

So desperate to leave, Betty didn't register the angry note in his voice. Leaving the door, she turned to look at him and accused hotly, "You're the one that got me drunk and took advantage! I would never have done anything like this if it wasn't for you!"

Gio took a couple of steps towards her, his emotions reeling from her unfair indictment. "I didn't exactly force those cocktails down your throat, Suarez. And as for taking advantage of you…"

He broke off unable to complete the sentence, his revulsion at the very idea turning his stomach. Is that what she really thought of him? As a man who plied women with drink solely to get them into bed?

"Well it wasn't me…" Betty began indignantly only to stop mid-speech as a sudden memory flashed into her brain. "Oh no!"

She could see herself taking hold of Gio's shirt and ripping it open, sending the buttons flying everywhere. "I want you, Gio, so bad," she heard her own, slurred voice say.

"We're drunk. We shouldn't," he'd replied, his voice equally garbled.

But then she'd launched herself at him and there'd been no more objections.

She pushed the memory aside and felt her breathing start to shallow. "Oh God," she muttered in mortification. It hadn't been Gio after all, it had been her. He'd tried to stop her, even though he was drunk. At least he'd attempted to do the decent thing, which was more than could be said about her own reckless behaviour.

She could feel the rush of heat flooding her cheeks and placed her hands against them so as try and stem the flow of embarrassment.

"What did you remember?" Gio suddenly asked.

Betty looked up at him and automatically shook her head. "Nothing," she lied, trying not to notice his bare chest. She could remember running her tongue down the entire length of his torso, right to his…

"No, I don't remember anything!" she reiterated more to herself than to Gio.

Turning back to the door, she began tugging on it once more as panic set in with a vengeance. She needed to get out of there. She felt as if she couldn't breathe. The memories were flooding her brain thick and fast and she just wanted to go somewhere quiet and sort it all out.

"Why won't this damn door open!" she cried.

"Calm down, Betty, it's just locked," Gio told her as he walked up and looked at her with some concern.

She backed away from him so quickly that she almost fell over. His look of concern changed to a frown and he briskly turned the key then opened the door. He took a step back and gestured to the exit.

"You'd better run away quick before I take advantage of you again," he said bitterly.

His harsh words penetrated her emotional haze and she suddenly felt an irrational need to tell him that he'd tried to do the honourable thing the night before. She moved towards the door and opened her mouth to speak but nothing coherent seemed to come out.

"I…you…wrong…"

"I know, I know, you don't have to tell me again, I heard you the first time," Gio cut in grimly, effectively stopping her babble. "It was wrong, a big mistake, yada, yada…well, let me tell you, Suarez, we made the same mistake three times last night, so how are you going to rationalise that to yourself, huh?"

She drew in a sharp breath at his words and blinked away sudden tears. Moving to the door again, she stopped short when Gio stepped into her path.

"Don't I even get a kiss goodbye?" he goaded, not wanting her to go but unable to ask her to stay.

"No," she refused, quietly.

She started to walk around him but he reached out and grabbed hold of her arm, pulling her flush against him. Before she realised what was happening, he leant in and kissed her full on the lips. It was hungry and demanding and, after a moment's hesitation, Betty wrapped her arms around his neck and responded in kind.

An involuntary moan escaped her when he eventually pulled back and Gio had to physically push her away before he did something he'd regret even more. Turning away, he didn't even flinch when the door slammed loudly behind him.

With her parting shot of, "I never want to see you again. Ever!" still ringing in his ears, he slumped onto the couch and closed his eyes.

Whatever it was they might have had was never going to happen now.

END CHAPTER ONE


	2. Embracing Life and Love

Betty hurried down the corridor of Gio's building and out into the sunlight. Pulling out her phone, she rang for a cab then noticed that there was a voicemail message. She dialled in and felt faint as her boyfriends voice came over the line.

"Henry! Oh God, what am I going to tell him?" she wondered aloud.

In truth, she hadn't even thought about him until she'd heard his message. How awful was that? Shouldn't the first thing on her mind be Henry? Surely if she loved him as much as she thought she did, she wouldn't have even slept with Gio?

She listened to the message again and bit her lip as she realised what he was saying. Apparently, he was happy to forgive her behaviour at the club the previous evening. She abruptly cut off the recording and promptly deleted it. It irked her that he saw it as her fault. How many other times had she apologised for something she hadn't done or said?

Her cab arrived and she got in. All the way home she thought about her relationship with Henry and she began to realise that it was more than a little one-sided. A trait that had gotten worse as he prepared to leave to be near his yet to be born offspring.

She eventually reached home and went in quietly. Luckily, her father was out shopping and Justin was at a friend's house. Unfortunately, her sister, Hilda, was waiting to pounce almost as soon as she got through the door, firing question after question until Betty had to shout to make herself heard. Naturally, her sister wasn't one to be silent for long.

"Aye, Betty, go and get changed and I'll make us a nice cup of coffee and then you can tell me everything!" Hilda directed as she pushed her sister towards the stairs. "Don't be long."

Contrary to Hilda's request, Betty took her time. She showered and changed her clothes then headed back downstairs. She wasn't looking forward to the coming conversation, especially since Hilda was the one who'd actually been on date with Gio the previous evening. As if she didn't feel bad enough already…

Hilda fussed around her like a mother hen then settled her down at the kitchen table so that they could talk. Betty was reluctant at first but the whole sorry story soon came tumbling out.

Surprisingly, Hilda wasn't judgemental. She told Betty that she would have attempted to stop her but she never got the chance as they'd left while she was in the restroom.

"I asked around and a security guy told me he'd seen you two leave together, so I decided to go home."

"I'm sorry, Hilda. You were Gio's date, not me, and I just took off with him. I still can't believe I did that!"

She waved away Betty's apology and shrugged her shoulders uncaringly.

"I could tell Gio liked you and not me. He upped his game when you and Henry turned up at the club." She let out a sigh. "I hope that I get a guy who likes me that much one day."

Betty let out a snort of derision. "Gio doesn't like me," she refuted. "I was just another conquest to him."

Hilda laughed at her younger sister's blinkeredness. "Honestly, Betty, if you can't see how much Gio adores you, then you need stronger glasses."

Betty stared at her in confusion then shook her head. "No, it doesn't matter anyway, I have Henry."

Her sister looked at her sympathetically. "What are you going to do? Tell him?"

Betty sighed. "If I do, we'll split up."

"Then don't tell him. You only have a few more weeks, why spoil it?"

Betty nodded and stood up. "I think I'll go and lay down for a while. Maybe get some sleep and clear my head a bit."

Hilda watched her sister leave and let out a long sigh. If it were down to her, she'd get Betty to dump Henry and go to Gio. Unfortunately, all she could do was sit and watch from the sidelines and hope that Betty did what was best for her for once.

Betty thought long and hard about her decision and called Henry that evening. She arranged to go over there to talk. It wasn't a long discussion. As soon as she saw him, she knew. The feelings she'd long nurtured seemed to dissipate leaving only the warm affection of friendship in its wake. She just didn't love him anymore and she realised she hadn't for quite a while.

That didn't make telling him about Gio any easier though.

As she'd suspected, Henry wanted nothing more to do with her and she accepted his choice with a sad nod of her head. At least it'd be easier for them both when he finally moved to Tucson.

That just left Gio. She wasn't sure what to do about him. Her feelings were a jumbled mass of contradictions where he was concerned and it'd take far longer than one day to untangle that mess…but first of all she had to decide if she even really wanted to.

Gio sat on his couch and rubbed his eyes tiredly. It had been a long day and he was pleased to be finally home. A week had gone by since he'd last seen Betty and, as usual, he wondered what she was doing.

"Probably with Egg Salad obediently doing whatever he says," he muttered sardonically to himself.

A sudden knock at the door made him jump and he got up to see who was there. Opening the door, he couldn't have been more shocked if Marc had been standing there in a woman's cheerleading outfit…pom-poms and all.

"Hi, Gio," Betty greeted with a shy smile.

"Betty!" he exclaimed, his initial joy rapidly replaced by anger as he added bitterly, "What are you doing here? I thought you never wanted to see me again…ever!"

"I'm sorry I said that," she apologised quickly before hesitating a moment then asking, "Can I come in? I-I'd like to talk."

Gio stared at her for a few seconds then stood back to allow her entry. She walked in with a grateful smile then turned to look at him. He shut the door and gestured to the couch.

"Sit down," he said as he stood awkwardly nearby. "Do you want a drink?"

"No!" Betty refused firmly. "No more alcohol, thank you. I think I had more than enough last time."

There was a slight pause then Gio ventured warily, "I meant a coffee or something."

"Oh! I'm sorry, I-I didn't realise…" she spluttered, feeling her face grow hot. This wasn't going quite how she hoped. Regaining some equilibrium she replied, "Coffee would be good, thanks."

Gio nodded then walked off to the kitchen and began to prepare their drinks. He took his time over the task as he tried to get his head around the fact that Betty was in his apartment again. She was obviously after something. Either there was a problem at work that she needed his help with or she had come to make sure that her secret was still safe.

He was betting on a work problem. Must be pretty bad one too for her to actually come and see him after what had happened.

He switched on the coffee maker and let out a sigh as he thought back to the week before. For all his denial the last time they'd seen each other, there had been a small part of him that had wondered whether her accusation that he'd taken advantage had been true. Although he knew he wouldn't have made a move if he'd been sober, he wasn't so sure he could trust himself around Betty while drunk.

The problem was, she was the first woman in a long time that he'd found both attractive and stimulating. Her feisty nature that seemed to emerge whenever he was around was a turn on both mentally and physically – it was a heady combination that he seriously doubted he would've been able to ward off once his control had been dulled by alcohol.

The mere thought of it had sickened him and it had been a hellish few hours until, one by one, pieces of his memory had returned. He still didn't remember everything from that night but once he'd recalled the moment Betty had ripped open his shirt and then kissed him passionately, it really didn't matter. To his immense relief, not to mention shock, that was when he'd first realised that Betty was, in fact, the instigator.

He'd even tried to stop her; if spouting a few token words of resistance that he knew he hadn't really meant counted as that. Truth was, he'd wanted her as much as she'd apparently wanted him…well, when she was drunk at least.

All in all, it hadn't happened the way he would have liked, but he'd still cherish what sparse memories he'd regained. For while he had no misconception that Betty viewed the night as them merely having sex, he knew that, on his side at least, he'd made love.

It was just so typical that he'd fall for a girl who'd never feel the same.

Unable to delay going back to the lounge, and Betty, any longer, Gio drew a breath and braced himself. Turning around, he stopped suddenly as he found himself face to face with the object of his repressed affections.

Standing only a couple of feet away, her hands were clasped tightly together as she bit her lip anxiously and fidgeted nervously from one foot to the other.

Gio released his breath and felt his stomach drop. Judging by her agitated demeanour, he'd been right. Betty had obviously come to him for help…

"I've broken up with Henry," she blurted out suddenly, almost shouting it in her eagerness to share her news.

Gio froze and stared at her blankly. His brain couldn't seem to process what she'd actually said. "What?"

"Henry!" she repeated as she took a small step closer to him. "We're not together anymore. He really needs to concentrate on Charlie and the baby and what with us…" she paused and unclasped her hands to gesture between them. Cheeks flushing slightly, she looked down and finished awkwardly, "You know…it-it just wasn't going to work anyway."

Gio stared at her downbent head in surprise. What was she trying to say? Dared he hope that she actually felt something for him after all?

"Did you tell him what happened between us?" he questioned softly. Off her nod he pressed, "But why? I wouldn't have said anything, you know that."

She looked up at him then and nodded again. "I do know," she assured him quickly as she took another step towards him.

They were close now and she could feel her heart begin to beat just that little bit faster.

"That night…the memories of being with you…how I felt…they just made me realise my feelings for Henry weren't quite as strong as I thought they were," she admitted quietly. "He was angry when I told him but I didn't want any lies between us. I hope that one day we can be friends again."

Gio swallowed hard and nodded agreeably, although he doubted a friendship with Henry would be likely. There was a moment's silence then he asked the question that had been rattling around in his brain from the second she'd explained her reasons for the break up.

"So…where does that leave us?"

The query hung heavy in the air with Gio practically holding his breath awaiting her answer. He was pretty certain that she had some feelings for him but wasn't sure what they were exactly or even if she wanted to act on them or not. Her next words didn't help either…

"I don't know," she confessed looking down again. "I've been thinking about it all week and I'm not sure what's the best thing to do."

Gio closed his eyes and felt his stomach sink as he listened to her talk. He knew he shouldn't have got his hopes up.

"I mean, should I just kiss you now or rip your top off again? I can't quite decide…"

Gio opened his eyes in shock and found Betty grinning up at him unabashedly. Seconds later, he reached out and pulled her into his arms. She just had time to let out a little 'Oh!' of surprise before his lips were on hers, kissing her deeply. When they broke apart, it took them a few moments to catch their breath.

"Are you sure this is what you want, Betty?" Gio asked suddenly. "I'm not like Egg Salad. I won't stand quietly by and watch you wander aimlessly through life. I'm going to challenge you and push your buttons and make damn sure you get that dream of yours."

She smiled back and nodded. "This is exactly what I want," she affirmed with certainty. "I want you for you, Gio. It's taken me a while to realise that but you're what I need. You bring out something in me I didn't even know was there…and I like it. I like me when I'm with you. No-one's ever made me feel like that before."

Gio was amazed and more than a little flattered at her admission.

"I won't let you down, B," he promised her huskily. "You can always count on me, no matter what."

"I know I can," she replied.

Still entwined in each other's arms, Gio placed a gentle kiss on the tip of her nose and pulled back to look at her with a smile.

"Why don't you go and sit down and I'll finish this coffee," he suggested as he began to pull away.

Betty wasn't that keen to let him go however.

"I'm not really that thirsty," she told him with a coy smile as she ran her hands slowly down his t-shirt clad chest.

Gio chuckled then drew in a sharp breath as her fingers slipped under his top and made contact with his sensitive skin.

"Neither am I," he admitted chokingly as her hands roamed adventurously over his back then downwards to his butt.

Before she could reach her destination, however, Gio suddenly bent down and lifted her clean off her feet. Her yelp of surprise quickly turned to laughter as he walked straight into his bedroom and dumped her unceremoniously onto the bed.

Whipping off his t-shirt, he stared down at her flushed face with a wicked grin and a glint in his eye. "I think it's my turn to do some shirt ripping," he growled sexily just before he pounced.

As the sound of material tearing sliced across the room, Betty's shriek of surprise quickly turned into laughter that gave way to heavy sighs and breathy moans.

This time their night together would be one they'd remember for the rest of their lives.

**THE END**


End file.
